MARGARET McLEAN
December 12, 1923 - January 27, 1998
TRIBUTE
As given at the Memorial Service
by Son-in-law, Bill Burchill.
Written by her Brother, Grant Webber
Marg was the first child of Annie Bell and Harvey Webber. She would have a sister, Norma Jones and a brother, Grant Webber both are here with us today.
Mom's Grandmother, Gramma Bell, was the real Matriarch of the family. In many ways she was one of the most significant influences, not only on Mom but on the entire "Bell" clan and it's extended family. Gramma Bell was a wise and loving woman, the foundation of what has become a dynasty of faith. Her family grew in wisdom, in the fear and love of the Lord. Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren include many missionaries and pastors.
is part of that heritage and will be ministering to us in song today.
Gramma Bell influenced everyone with whom she made contact. Her overwhelming love of the Lord and His promise was not only learned but taught also. She was not only a woman who professed her faith but was a woman who also lived it. Mom would have been honored to know that others compared her to Gramma Bell. Those who knew and loved Mom would say the she was 'cut from the same cloth'.
Mom embraced the faith of her Grandmother. She clung to her ideals working very hard to match the older woman's efforts and commitment to a life of living faith. Both women were gentle for the most part, but never short of the strength, conviction and discipline that comes from a careful study of God's Word. Both had the unwavering faith of a true believer.
This week, (January 27th) Mom went to be with her Savior. That certainly was the very essence of Mom's faith. She passed on in the knowledge that she could trust Christ's promise to prepare a home for those who believed.
Aunt Norma told us how Gramma Bell would insist that they memorize certain passages of Scripture. The sisters shared a favorite taken from Psalm 91:2. It reads, "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. My God! In Him I will trust". Mom trusted in Him throughout her life, during times of joy, through heartache, during times of success, through moments of failure, during times of fellowship and through the road of physical suffering until her human frailty carried her to His bosom this week. God is faithful in His promises to us. We can rejoice in His comfort in this time of sorrow.
Like Gramma Bell, Mom shared an eagerness to work in God's fields from the planting to the harvest. Both had active and mature prayer lives. Each carried a soft spot for missions and each gave generously both materially and in prayer.
Mom's father, Harvey Webber, was a progressive businessman and innovator. Before it was fashionable to do so, he nurtured a confident free spirit in his daughter's as well as his son. He taught each of his daughters to have faith in themselves, to work hard and to treat each obstacle as a challenge rather than a cause for retreat. He encouraged Mom to continually study and to grow. She was just as comfortable running a business as she was running a household. She was a trained designer, a manager and a book keeper whose home showed her special artistic touches and creativity. Mom's father instilled into Mom that being a woman should not lower her goals or remove any of her options as a person.
Mom's father moved his family from Toronto to Guelph to better his family. It was here that Mom met the man who was to become her one and only life long love. As you might expect, they met at a Young People's meeting at Church. The Calvary Baptist Church in Guelph was their home for many years.
Very early Mom's brash self-confidence and teasing nature coined a name for her love, that she would use affectionately for the rest of her life. For those of you who are interested in this name and it's origin, you should ask Dad sometime. It was a term of endearment and as warm a greeting as 'sweetheart' or 'darling' may be to others.
Most of you know that their love was abiding. They shared a relationship built on Christ being the head of their home. They turned to Him for guidance and strength to make their marriage work. No one who knew them as a couple would contend that they were always on the same wave length or that they never disagreed. Fond memories shared among our family members over the past few days brought back many a funny and heartwarming story. Mom and Dad had their own specialway of dealing with each other. They seemed to know when to listen and when to ignore the other but they knew themselves and each other very well. Each, in his own way, made allowances for the others special needs and eccentricities. Each learned that both God and marriage were more important than getting ones own way. But most importantly, they shared a love of God and turned to Him when a sense of humor and good natured marital bartering alone could not resolve life's issues.
Mom believed strongly that if she took something to the Lord in prayer, He would show her the way and He always did. This house, built on a good foundation, stood the test of time. It was an abiding love.
When Mom's family moved back to Toronto, she stayed behind to quote "finish her education" unquote. That was their story and they stuck to it for 60 years. Of course, a certain smiling and handsome violin player, had nothing to do with it!
The second world war changed the course of their lives as it did for so many others of their generation. Dad joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. After basic training Dad was stationed at a base called "Jarvis". It was so close to home that he could visit Mom every 10 days when he got leave. In fact, mocking his constant presence and the typical celebrations afforded a returning hero in that era, his Father-in-law to be, offered to erect a sign in front of the house "Welcome Home the conquering Hero, all the way from Jarvis Ontario, a full 50 miles down the road".
But the fun was soon over. Dad was told he was to ship out in 3 weeks. In anticipation of an unknown absence, they decided to marry in the time he had left, as so many others were doing. That started the worst 2 years of their lives. Before you conclude that it was the first 2 years of marriage that were the source of the problem I should add that Dad was transferred to Vancouver, not to reappear until the war was over.
After the war Mom and Dad moved back to Guelph. I for one am glad they did. They added Marney and Bruce to their family when they were there. Mom and Dad became deeply involved once again at Calvary Baptist Church, where Dad was a regular fixture leading the singing or welcoming people at the door, while Mom took her turn in all manor of activities from Church Suppers to teaching Sunday School. Just the other day, we received a message from one of her Sunday School students wondering, "How is that Sunday School teacher of mine?" As Christian parents they brought up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Their example fell in line with their teaching. Like Gramma Bell, Mom practiced her faith and with her husband, turned to God in prayer in times of trial and often frightening responsibilities of parenting. Maney has shared many stories of Mom's steadfastness and faithfulness to prayer.
Mom had 2 uncles and their families who served the Lord in China until it was closed to outside missionaries. This gave Mom a first hand knowledge of the importance of missions and is one of the reasons that she so faithfully prayed for and supported missions throughout her life.
When Dad retired, and they could choose any city as their own 'retirement village', they moved to Calgary. That too reminds me of a lighter side of their life and relationship. Just a few years before Dad's retirement, Mom's fearlessness led her on a plan to move to the "house on the hill" that she had always wanted. During those last few years in Guelph, despite the occasional night sweats, Dad adjusted to the change and actually came to enjoy the new house. However, he made it abundantly clear that he would never move again as long as he could look after that house.
When Marney and I, and Bruce and Lyn moved to Calgary Mom and Dad came out to visit regularly. During fleeting moments stolen from our visits together, Mom and Marney headed off to look for a new house for the Sr. McLeans without full consultation with anyone in particular. Mom was sure that she had to be here in Calgary to know and influence her grandchildren. House hunting was almost done on the QT. Dad's earlier reluctance over moving 2 or 3 miles to the house on the hill paled by comparison to his feelings over uprooting himself from all of their friends and moving 2,000 or 3,000 miles to Calgary! I remember it well. I helped with the moving and Dad in his loving and stoic way accepted the fact that they were moving. Neither Mom nor Dad have ever regretted the move.
Last June, Mom and Dad had planned to attend a 'Bell' Family Reunion that Aunt Norma with help put together. Rapidly failing health prevented Mom and Dad's attendance but Aunt Norma and Uncle Art carefully took pictures of all of the attendees to let Mom participate even in a passive way. Dad enjoys recalling that even in her frailty Mom had the brashness to continue pointing out to him, how old so many of the family members seemed to have grown since she last saw them. The flesh may have weakened, but the spirit never failed.
Mom loved her 7 grandchildren and spent some of the happiest years of her life, despite the trials of failing health, being here with her family.
It was her wish and her nature to stay as active as she could be in the church whenever possible, as a helper behind the scenes. Her faith never wavered, she embraced a whole new community of believers. Though it must have been hard to leave lifelong friends behind, Mom knew that she would find fellowship with God's people wherever they were. Dad, her faithful husband, of 5 1/2 decades will miss her steadfast courage and loving companionship the most of all of us. Theirs was a world of sharing Christ's Word, family prayer along with the rewards and celebrations of believers.
Many of you have come here today to offer Dad and the family your condolences and your support because of our loss. We appreciate that and thank you for it. I do not mean to stand here and suggest that Margaret Frances McLean was any better or any different from any of you. We have great sorrow and a great sense of loss as a family. However, we know that our Mother is at home with her Lord. No more pain and suffering like she had to endure here. Today we have come here to rejoice in her life, her journey and her confidence in her final destination.
The morning of January 30th, as we committed her body to the ground, we knew that after or despite our tears, we also shared a cause to rejoice. We are thankful to Mom for helping each of us to have that same confidence and for teaching us by example to live our faith. We commit ourselves in her memory to live our faith and to follow our remembrance of her living example. Amen.
If you would like to learn how you too can have the faith that our Mother had and has passed on to her family, feel free to contact me and I'll be glad to spend time chatting with you
Please sign our Memorial Guestbook and let us know you stopped by...
In Memory Page
Minnie's Tree
Thank you Laurie for the beautiful background and accessories that I have chosen to use here. Please visit her...
"And Can It Be"
Gramma Bell influenced everyone with whom she made contact. Her overwhelming love of the Lord and His promise was not only learned but taught also. She was not only a woman who professed her faith but was a woman who also lived it. Mom would have been honored to know that others compared her to Gramma Bell. Those who knew and loved Mom would say the she was 'cut from the same cloth'.
Mom embraced the faith of her Grandmother. She clung to her ideals working very hard to match the older woman's efforts and commitment to a life of living faith. Both women were gentle for the most part, but never short of the strength, conviction and discipline that comes from a careful study of God's Word. Both had the unwavering faith of a true believer.
This week, (January 27th) Mom went to be with her Savior. That certainly was the very essence of Mom's faith. She passed on in the knowledge that she could trust Christ's promise to prepare a home for those who believed.
Aunt Norma told us how Gramma Bell would insist that they memorize certain passages of Scripture. The sisters shared a favorite taken from Psalm 91:2. It reads, "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. My God! In Him I will trust". Mom trusted in Him throughout her life, during times of joy, through heartache, during times of success, through moments of failure, during times of fellowship and through the road of physical suffering until her human frailty carried her to His bosom this week. God is faithful in His promises to us. We can rejoice in His comfort in this time of sorrow.
Like Gramma Bell, Mom shared an eagerness to work in God's fields from the planting to the harvest. Both had active and mature prayer lives. Each carried a soft spot for missions and each gave generously both materially and in prayer.
Mom's father, Harvey Webber, was a progressive businessman and innovator. Before it was fashionable to do so, he nurtured a confident free spirit in his daughter's as well as his son. He taught each of his daughters to have faith in themselves, to work hard and to treat each obstacle as a challenge rather than a cause for retreat. He encouraged Mom to continually study and to grow. She was just as comfortable running a business as she was running a household. She was a trained designer, a manager and a book keeper whose home showed her special artistic touches and creativity. Mom's father instilled into Mom that being a woman should not lower her goals or remove any of her options as a person.
Mom's father moved his family from Toronto to Guelph to better his family. It was here that Mom met the man who was to become her one and only life long love. As you might expect, they met at a Young People's meeting at Church. The Calvary Baptist Church in Guelph was their home for many years.
Very early Mom's brash self-confidence and teasing nature coined a name for her love, that she would use affectionately for the rest of her life. For those of you who are interested in this name and it's origin, you should ask Dad sometime. It was a term of endearment and as warm a greeting as 'sweetheart' or 'darling' may be to others.
Most of you know that their love was abiding. They shared a relationship built on Christ being the head of their home. They turned to Him for guidance and strength to make their marriage work. No one who knew them as a couple would contend that they were always on the same wave length or that they never disagreed. Fond memories shared among our family members over the past few days brought back many a funny and heartwarming story. Mom and Dad had their own specialway of dealing with each other. They seemed to know when to listen and when to ignore the other but they knew themselves and each other very well. Each, in his own way, made allowances for the others special needs and eccentricities. Each learned that both God and marriage were more important than getting ones own way. But most importantly, they shared a love of God and turned to Him when a sense of humor and good natured marital bartering alone could not resolve life's issues.
Mom believed strongly that if she took something to the Lord in prayer, He would show her the way and He always did. This house, built on a good foundation, stood the test of time. It was an abiding love.
When Mom's family moved back to Toronto, she stayed behind to quote "finish her education" unquote. That was their story and they stuck to it for 60 years. Of course, a certain smiling and handsome violin player, had nothing to do with it!
The second world war changed the course of their lives as it did for so many others of their generation. Dad joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. After basic training Dad was stationed at a base called "Jarvis". It was so close to home that he could visit Mom every 10 days when he got leave. In fact, mocking his constant presence and the typical celebrations afforded a returning hero in that era, his Father-in-law to be, offered to erect a sign in front of the house "Welcome Home the conquering Hero, all the way from Jarvis Ontario, a full 50 miles down the road".
But the fun was soon over. Dad was told he was to ship out in 3 weeks. In anticipation of an unknown absence, they decided to marry in the time he had left, as so many others were doing. That started the worst 2 years of their lives. Before you conclude that it was the first 2 years of marriage that were the source of the problem I should add that Dad was transferred to Vancouver, not to reappear until the war was over.
After the war Mom and Dad moved back to Guelph. I for one am glad they did. They added Marney and Bruce to their family when they were there. Mom and Dad became deeply involved once again at Calvary Baptist Church, where Dad was a regular fixture leading the singing or welcoming people at the door, while Mom took her turn in all manor of activities from Church Suppers to teaching Sunday School. Just the other day, we received a message from one of her Sunday School students wondering, "How is that Sunday School teacher of mine?" As Christian parents they brought up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Their example fell in line with their teaching. Like Gramma Bell, Mom practiced her faith and with her husband, turned to God in prayer in times of trial and often frightening responsibilities of parenting. Maney has shared many stories of Mom's steadfastness and faithfulness to prayer.
Mom had 2 uncles and their families who served the Lord in China until it was closed to outside missionaries. This gave Mom a first hand knowledge of the importance of missions and is one of the reasons that she so faithfully prayed for and supported missions throughout her life.
When Dad retired, and they could choose any city as their own 'retirement village', they moved to Calgary. That too reminds me of a lighter side of their life and relationship. Just a few years before Dad's retirement, Mom's fearlessness led her on a plan to move to the "house on the hill" that she had always wanted. During those last few years in Guelph, despite the occasional night sweats, Dad adjusted to the change and actually came to enjoy the new house. However, he made it abundantly clear that he would never move again as long as he could look after that house.
When Marney and I, and Bruce and Lyn moved to Calgary Mom and Dad came out to visit regularly. During fleeting moments stolen from our visits together, Mom and Marney headed off to look for a new house for the Sr. McLeans without full consultation with anyone in particular. Mom was sure that she had to be here in Calgary to know and influence her grandchildren. House hunting was almost done on the QT. Dad's earlier reluctance over moving 2 or 3 miles to the house on the hill paled by comparison to his feelings over uprooting himself from all of their friends and moving 2,000 or 3,000 miles to Calgary! I remember it well. I helped with the moving and Dad in his loving and stoic way accepted the fact that they were moving. Neither Mom nor Dad have ever regretted the move.
Last June, Mom and Dad had planned to attend a 'Bell' Family Reunion that Aunt Norma with help put together. Rapidly failing health prevented Mom and Dad's attendance but Aunt Norma and Uncle Art carefully took pictures of all of the attendees to let Mom participate even in a passive way. Dad enjoys recalling that even in her frailty Mom had the brashness to continue pointing out to him, how old so many of the family members seemed to have grown since she last saw them. The flesh may have weakened, but the spirit never failed.
Mom loved her 7 grandchildren and spent some of the happiest years of her life, despite the trials of failing health, being here with her family.
It was her wish and her nature to stay as active as she could be in the church whenever possible, as a helper behind the scenes. Her faith never wavered, she embraced a whole new community of believers. Though it must have been hard to leave lifelong friends behind, Mom knew that she would find fellowship with God's people wherever they were. Dad, her faithful husband, of 5 1/2 decades will miss her steadfast courage and loving companionship the most of all of us. Theirs was a world of sharing Christ's Word, family prayer along with the rewards and celebrations of believers.
Many of you have come here today to offer Dad and the family your condolences and your support because of our loss. We appreciate that and thank you for it. I do not mean to stand here and suggest that Margaret Frances McLean was any better or any different from any of you. We have great sorrow and a great sense of loss as a family. However, we know that our Mother is at home with her Lord. No more pain and suffering like she had to endure here. Today we have come here to rejoice in her life, her journey and her confidence in her final destination.
The morning of January 30th, as we committed her body to the ground, we knew that after or despite our tears, we also shared a cause to rejoice. We are thankful to Mom for helping each of us to have that same confidence and for teaching us by example to live our faith. We commit ourselves in her memory to live our faith and to follow our remembrance of her living example. Amen.
If you would like to learn how you too can have the faith that our Mother had and has passed on to her family, feel free to contact me and I'll be glad to spend time chatting with you
Please sign our Memorial Guestbook and let us know you stopped by...
|
|
In Memory Page
Minnie's Tree
Thank you Laurie for the beautiful background and accessories that I have chosen to use here. Please visit her...
"And Can It Be"